Making and Women’s Work!

Kim Belgrave!Having learned to crochet from an extracurricular club in junior high school, I was only familiar with the basics. As I learned about the making aspect of this class was I intrigued. Not only would I have to produce an actual tangible piece of clothing, but I also would have to attempt to do something that I had not done in a long time. Initially, my goal was to create a crocheted quilt from smaller stitched squares that would be a variety of colors. However, my first squares slowly began to shift to a circular placement that looked square. I gave up on that idea and decided to learn how to knit by attending the Fiberspace in the Science Center. After about a week of knitting, I began to find a rhythm, but I realized that time constraints made crocheting my best choice.  Eventually, I finished creating a camouflage scarf using a triple stitch crochet method.   A few weeks later, I attended a lecture by Cynthia Enloe, a feminist writer and researcher who talked about women’s roles during war time and economic situations both domestically and internationally. As she talked about the notion that women were constantly at work, I got a new idea for my project. In the end, I decided that my scarf would become an homage to women during war by creating a feminized adaptation of an ammunition belt. With collaboration from students in the Makerspace and their 3D printer, I was able to create plastic rifle bullets that I would be able to incorporate throughout my design. Although my project was geared towards paying respect to women at work, I also wanted it to be a call to attention for everyone. In one of our many readings, Knitting America, Susan Strawn described how women had ensured that the men were clothed during wars in the past by using their textile skills to hand make all of their clothing – from their shirts to the countless pairs of socks that they wore to stay warm. Although this making of clothes was more prevalent during the American Revolution and Civil War, the roles and jobs of women have changed only with regard to their tasks – they were not recognized for all of their hard work and dedication in picking up the slack while the men were away fighting. During WWI and WWII, women performed men’s jobs, building machines and armory. But when men returned home women were then evicted from these new jobs in which they excelled and were demoted right back into the role of housewife and textile maker.

Stitch ‘n’ Bitch: Sex and Work in the 19th Century U.S. History 340/Women’s Studies Gabriella Barbera, Kimberly Belgrave, Ashley Brillon, Abigail Corrado, Abigail Cone, Kelsey O’Brien,Lauren Slingluff, Kathryn Tomasek

With thanks to Social Sciences Library Liaison Lauren Slingluff, Assistant Professor of Computer Science Tom Armstrong, and the students of the Wheaton Autonomous Learning Lab and Makerspace, aka The WHALE. Follow them on Twitter: @W_H_A_L_E !The Fiber Object Project is a new assignment that joins a series of innovative pedagogical projects undertaken by Associate Professor of History Kathryn Tomasek during her twenty-one years’ teaching at Wheaton College. Follow her on Twitter: @kathryntomasek!

Abigail Corrado!For me, knitting for class was a surprising assignment. I quickly saw the connection, however, once I had needles and yarn in my hands. Knitting wasn't the easy, effortless pastime that I thought it was. Learning took work, and long hours of knitting, while rapidly addictive, took a toll on my hands.  Getting hands on completely showed me what hard work making clothing was.  My project was to make as many scarves as possible, not only to see how much knitting I could fit around the rest of my life (like women used to do) but also because I was having fun with it.!

Abby Cone!Reading about knitting, early uses of it, and the women who participated in the action of knitting inspired my idea for the fiberspace project. Knit goods are made to be used, and that led me to the idea that I should make something interactive. Interactivity with the piece is important to me, which is why the circuitry that is added to it indicates the number of people who have interacted with it. This count is a visual representation of the history of a scarf that was created through the labor of multiple people.  I hope that through the course of the academic festival more people will stop by the fiberspace and add on to the ever-growing scarf and get to experience a labor that women have known for ages.!

Fiber Objects as History Project !In the twenty-first century, some advocates of digital culture express enthusiasm about a culture of making that brings together play, innovation, and learning. Some writers even refer to maker culture as a new industrial revolution. And women mathematicians have begun to use fiber objects in their thinking and writing about advanced mathematical principles. The Fiber Objects Project that students have completed in our course on Sex and Work in the 19th Century draws both on new ideas about maker culture and on more established feminist ideas about the power of needlework as a symbol of the undervaluation of women’s physical labor and intellectual work in Euro-American culture. During the spring 2013 semester, students have read numerous texts reflecting the significance of needlework as both artisanal craft and a skill associated with womanhood and housewifery. We have discussed changing fashions as contexts for women’s entrepreneurial activities as well as for women’s wage earning and labor organizing. As these statements and the objects on exhibit in the Fiberspace, an extension of Wheaton’s WHALE Autonomous Learning Lab and Makerspace in SC 233 demonstrate, spending time making fiber objects—and in some cases using circuitry or objects made with the 3D printer in the Makerspace—has given students opportunities to learn about the experiences of women in the past and to express their new knowledge in ways that move beyond the traditional individual papers written for an audience of one that they have also completed for the course.

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Ashley Brillon!This being my first time knitting, I was both nervous and excited to make my trip to the craft store and get my supplies. Accompanied by a master knitter, I purchased the supplies I needed to make my first scarf. After I learned to do my own stitches and turnovers, the idea and feel of knitting came quicker than I had thought it would. A week in, my scarf was coming along nicely and I was surprised at how easy and relaxing the process was. I began taking my project to classes as a way to stay centered and calm while still keeping my mind sharp and on task. Only then did I realize the connection between myself and the women I am studying in Sex & Work with Professor Tomasek. No, I am not flying through scarf after scarf as a means to support my family. However, this is the first time I have been given the opportunity to step into the shoes of someone that I have been studying. It draws an interesting parallel that is fun to think about and gives me a deeper appreciation of both women of the past and the opportunity to try knitting. I can honestly say it is one of the most unique ways that I have learned about any subject.!

Kelsey O’Brien!I learned how to knit in 4th grade but only remembered how to do it for a few weeks, so this project was fun. I thoroughly enjoyed making my scarf while also learning about knitting and needlework for a whole semester.  Learning about women and needlework has been fantastic because I don't know anything about it, which made the scarf making that much more interesting. I got my idea after reading Knitting American by Susan M. Strawn.  This showed many pictures, including a scarf called a "Necktie" Scarf made in the 1850s.  I didn't make a "Necktie" Scarf because I don't believe it would have come out successfully, but the pattern suggested using blue and white Shetland wool.  I decided to knit a blue wool infinity scarf.  My two ideas for making a blue scarf, were one to make a scarf similar to one I learned about in Sex and Work, and also to make a blue scarf because it is the main color of Wheaton College.  I made an infinity scarf because they are scarves that are very popular in contemporary culture (the new style of a scarf).  They are scarves that circle or loop and attach together, in other words a scarf that is continuous.  This scarf is very versatile, as it could be used as a scarf, a shawl or something to put over your head while also covering your neck.  One of the reasons I choose to make a modern scarf is so I could incorporate the style of our world today, but knit by hand and physically make my scarf by doing what women did during the 1700s and 1800s.  I really enjoyed this project because rather than just write papers for all my my grades, I got to physically craft my own piece of work which was very thrilling. While also knitting this scarf, I got to make a scarf that I would wear and enjoy the colors and style, and by knitting it, it made the history of needlework and women during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries that much more interesting to me.  !

Gabby Barbera!Being a complete novice when it comes to anything regarding needlework, the thought of knitting led me down a path of great interest and excitement knowing that this was a new task I was willing to try. However, my efforts were no match for knitting so I transitioned to crocheting. For this project I really wanted to stick to the theme of the class and crochet a piece that had a colonial essence, keeping it simple yet hopefully achieving somewhat of a traditional feel to it. This project allowed me to gain a great feeling of respect for women who were needleworkers, and just how hard and laborious their lives truly were.!

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